Skull Knight
|image= |-|Manga= |-|Anime= |also known as= Knight of Skeleton |manga debut= Chapter 37 Knight of Skeleton |anime debut= (2016 Anime) Episode 6 Night Banquet of Burning at the Stake |movies debut= Golden Age Arc III Descent |japanese voice= (2016 Anime/Movies) (PS2 Game) |english voice= (Movies) |image gallery= yes }} Skull Knight is an enigmatic figure and a self-proclaimed "foe of the inhumans". As an 1000-year-old being, he has vast knowledge of events surrounding the Berserk world and seems to be able to predict fate's next move. He has saved Guts several times over the course of his journey and also seems to manipulate events around Guts for his own purpose of revenge. He has known and apparently had a close relationship with the witch Flora for at least several hundred years and was also one of the previous owners of the Berserker Armor. Appearance Skull Knight is a large, domineering figure covered entirely in skeletal armor, with glowing yellow eye sockets and spikes adorning his shoulders and head. He has a dark, flowing cape situated on his back, which covers his upper arms and runs down to his lower legs. He bears a sword with many spikes along its edge, along with a shield with a thorned rose emblem. The horse he rides has a similar skeletal composition, adorned with its own breastplate bearing the figure of a naked woman's head and torso. Personality A centuries old being, he is an aloof and mysterious figure with a great understanding of the deterministic world. He knows when certain events are predestined and which are in flux. Only at temporal junction points does he actively target the God Hand, such as during the Eclipse and when Femto reveals himself atop a reincarnated Ganishka. However, despite Skull Knight's stance as a foe of the inhumans, he has spared those with evil intentions before and allowed them to run away, particularly the Count and Rosine, after they slaughtered the Hawks traveling with Rickert. Abilities Skull Knight is undoubtedly one of the most powerful known beings in existence, whose capabilities allow him to oppose Apostles and God Hand members alike. In all of his most recent encounters with Nosferatu Zodd, he has sustained no damaged, and even bested the Apostle during the Eclipse. Other Apostles have even shown explicit fear in his presence, as seen with the Count and Rosine, and several God Hand members have had to actively defend themselves when at the brunt of his attacks. Swordsmanship As his most attributable skill, Skull Knight's swordsmanship is masterful, allowing him to easily dispatch Apostles with merely a single strike from his Sword of Thorns. Relying only on his base swordsmanship and wits, he is able to sever the arm of Zodd the Immortal in combat. Upon swallowing his Sword of Thorns and coating it in ingested Behelits to create his Sword of Actuation, the capabilities of his swordsmanship increase tenfold. One stroke of his Sword of Actuation alone operates on a dimensional scale, as seen in Qliphoth; during the collapse of the domain, he is able to use his newly formed sword to not only send a horde of demonkind into a dimensional vortex, but also slice open a dimensional portal for him and Guts to escape through. On the head of Ganishka's god form, a stroke from Skull Knight's Sword of Actuation, intended for Femto, is manipulated by the angel and redirected at the dying Apostle—its large-scale, space-cleaving properties ultimately sparking the World Transformation. Other skills Almost always atop his horse companion, all of Skull Knight's most recent battles have been fought on horseback. His horse is both fast and agile, capable of swift, precise movements and huge leaps when necessary. While saving Guts and Casca and concurrently being attacked by a newly born Femto, Skull Knight has no trouble acquiring the two Hawks, thwarting Femto's efforts, and escaping the scene unscathed. Most peculiar in Skull Knight's repertoire of skills is his foresight; he possesses strong causal awareness, knowledge of that which has yet to occur. History Golden Age Arc On the night of Guts' departure from the Band of the Hawk, Skull Knight approaches him for the first time to leave him with a prophecy. While nearing Guts' campfire, his aura alone throws Guts off kilter initially, resulting in the former Hawk becoming unnecessarily anxious and uneasy, when in fact, Skull Knight is peaceful in his approach. He begins to speak of a perilous event, coined "the Eclipse", that will take place in a year's time, stating that Guts and his companions will be swept away in a torrent of madness and death. Further cautioning the "struggler", Skull Knight tells Guts to fight to survive in spite of his impending doom before leaving the campsite and vanishing into the night. As the Eclipse nears a year later, Skull Knight resurges to aid Rickert when his party of Hawks are ambushed by the Count and Rosine, among other demons. Just as the Count prepares to engulf Rickert, Skull Knight intervenes and demands that the Apostles cease their slaughter. Surely enough, the threatened Apostles withdraw from the scene, and with their departure, Skull Knight, too, retires into the night. On the day of the Eclipse, Skull Knight encounters his old-time rival Nosferatu Zodd, who he presumes is guarding dimensional gate to the Interstice where the Eclipse is taking place. However, Zodd's true purpose for being there is to engage in combat with Skull Knight. Accepting that his encounter with Zodd likely lied within the current of causality, Skull Knight engages in combat with Zodd, handily besting his rival and then breaking into the nearby temporal junction point. Upon entering the Eclipse, Skull Knight immediately attacks Void, who diverts the attack back at his assailant via a dimensional portal. After blocking his own strike and having a short stare down with his archenemy, Skull Knight sets his sights on rescuing Guts and Casca, quickly dispatching the Apostles in his wake. In his approach, however, he is targeted by Femto, who uses his newfound abilities to form a compaction ball of demons around the former. Completely undeterred by the angel's attack, Skull Knight acquires Guts and Casca and leaves the astral dimension. After exiting the Eclipse and returning to the physical word, Skull Knight orders Rickert to attend to Guts and Casca's wounds. A blood-lusted Zodd returns to resume their battle, but Skull Knight asks that he delay their confrontation. Seeing that Guts in fact survived the Eclipse and proved his prediction wrong, Zodd leaves the scene, rather intrigued by the turn of events. With Guts and Casca's wounds attended to, Skull Knight takes Rickert and the branded survivors to a nearby elven safe haven. Four days later, in the forest near Godo's cottage, Skull Knight appears before Guts and tells the swordsman that he is now a being of the Interstice and will incessantly be preyed upon by both Apostles and dead spirits alike who desire physical bodies to inhabit. With demons closing in on their location, Skull Knight lends Guts his sword in order to ward off the spirits. He continues on with his monologue, but after being silenced by Guts for his mentions of "destiny" and "sacrifices", and witnessing the struggler's declaration of war, Skull Knight begins to understand how Guts survived the Eclipse. When the demons finally cease their assault, Skull Knight informs Guts that they haven't been defeated, but have only found another being in the Interstice to prey upon. Coming to the realization that Casca, too, is branded, Guts asks for Skull Knight to take him to his lover. Guts attempts to divulge Skull Knight's identity as they ride towards Casca's location. However, Skull Knight once again only notes that he is an enemy of the inhumans. Having arrived at Casca's location, Skull Knight observes that the spirits are not harming Casca, as she gives birth to a creature he realizes is Guts' unborn child. He advises Guts to follow the guidance of his brand and heed the darkness he will inevitably confront, so as to not be enveloped by it. With that said, he wishes the struggler good luck on his journey and takes his leave. Conviction Arc In the scorched land that was once the Misty Valley, Skull Knight treads ominously through the decimated vale, realizing that Guts had some part in the destruction. Knowing that Guts hadn't fallen to evil fortune, Skull Knight begins to wonder just how long Guts will be able to continue on his path. Upon arriving at the tree Rosine once considered her home, he dismounts his horse and reaches into a small gap between the tree's roots. After extracting Rosine's old Behelit, he ingests it before leaving the site. Skull Knight explains to Guts the significance of the Tower of Conviction in the God Hand's design, as the entire area is a haven for the restless dead that makes it an ideal place for an Incarnation Ceremony, similar to the Eclipse, where Femto will regain his corporeal form as Griffith. He ends his monologue by saying the Incarnation Ceremony cannot be stopped, as it has been ordained by fate. Guts becomes skeptical of causality's supposed ultimate nature, however, pointing out how both Skull Knight and Zodd predicted his death during the Eclipse, yet he still survived. Skull Knight is impressed by Guts' resolve, and reasons that the Incarnation Ceremony could be different than the Eclipse, and that Guts might indeed be a "jumping fish" in the river that is causality. Just before departing on his horse, he leaves Guts with a parting message: "Fight, or rescue. Your lover will be left alone. It won't be as simple as catching two birds." In the nick of time, Skull Knight saves Luca from falling to her death and then takes her to the Tower of Conviction's burial grounds. There, after meeting and being given a speech to by the Egg-Shaped Apostle, Skull Knight proceeds to strike the Apostle down; his attack misses, however, causing him to temporarily question the confidence of his sword, but he then reasons that it simply wasn't the Apostle's time to die. Not long after the encounter, the two witness the large-scale physical manifestation of the malice pervading the Tower of Conviction. Realizing that the malice was taking such a form without the occurrence of a temporal junction point, Skull Knight comes to the conclusion that the Incarnation Ceremony has already begun. After having distanced themselves from the commencing Incarnation Ceremony, Skull Knight cautions Luca not to return to the tower if she cares for her well-being. She disregards his warning, however, and returns to the tower in spite of him. As Luca leaves, Skull Knight muses over her "ignorant fool-hardiness", somewhat perplexed by her trivial perspective of the situation, unmoved state of mind, and her not soliciting his assistance. Despite this, he notes that he would be unable to aid her regardless, stating that, "All moves as if parallel to that time..." Shortly after, he is approached by Zodd, an encounter parallel to their previous one during the Eclipse. After daybreak, Skull Knight reappears atop a penetrated tower wall in the midst of battle, ushering the combatants to look in the direction of a reconstituted Griffith. Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc Skull Knight appears inside Flora's Spirit Tree when Guts and his party members leave the area. His old friend presumes that he is there to ask a favor of her. Skull Knight then replies, stating that, "Even if I don't do it myself... that one may also be a factor guided by the law of causality..." As Guts is engaging Slan in the deepest bowels of Qliphoth, Skull Knight arrives at their position, seemingly disappointed that Slan is the only God Hand member present. The two exchange words before Skull Knight is forced to battle a wave of demons. When Guts finally musters enough strength to damage Slan with his Cannon Arm, Skull Knight reassures him that his Dragonslayer—"tempered by the malice of hundreds...thousands of dead"—will be able to run through the angel. Heeding Skull Knight's advice, Guts stabs Slan in her abdomen, resulting in the decomposition of her assumed form. Slan's abrupt disappearance has adverse effects on Qliphoth, however; her forced passing causes the life and death of the realm to meld and turn into pure chaos, which leads to the eventual collapse of the area. In order to escape, Skull Knight uses his Sword of Actuation to both entomb the swarm of demons enclosing them and escape from the Interstice. He departs upon returning Guts to his party. Later, back in the Mansion of the Spirit Tree, Skull Knight oversees Flora's finishing touches to a set of armor, and states that she must be aware of the danger it poses and its karmic nature. She concedes to his first point, but states that it will be necessary for the journey its intended user is on, and that the choices she and Skull Knight had made in the past are not predestined to repeat. Suddenly, both are alerted by the intruders in Flora's domain. They step out onto Flora's balcony, from which Skull Knight leaps, landing on his horse. A surprised Flora asks if he intends to defend her from the intruders, which he confirms, saying that her death will be easier if it is not at the hands of enemies. Not too long thereafter, Grunbeld and Zodd arrive at the mansion grounds in search of Flora. While Grundbeld chooses to oppose Guts, Zodd opts to hold off his rival, commanding the lower-ranking Apostles to bring him Flora's head. Skull Knight finds it odd that Zodd would chase a woman in the midst of battle, to which Zodd retorts that he simply is the only one capable of holding the former off. Skull Knight then comes to the conclusion that they both have different reasons for opposing each other this time around. In the middle of their battle, Zodd witnesses Guts donning the Berserker Armor and looks Skull Knight's way, reminiscing over previous battles between the him and his rival and concluding that Skull Knight must want Guts to follow in his path. On a moonlit beach sometime later, Skull Knight rendezvouses with Guts and Schierke and warns Guts of the harm that befalls users of the Berserker Armor, revealing to them that he was the armor's previous wearer. He cautions Guts to never make light of the armor if he wants to continue on as a human. With the advice received, a curious Guts then asks him to divulge the purpose of attack on Flora's mansion. Skull Knight replies that Griffith likely considered Flora an obstacle in his quest for worldly omnipresence due to her magical abilities; that only those outside of the confines of the physical world can confront the Hawk of Light. Before departing into the night, Skull Knight informs Guts of Sovereign Hanafubuku of Elfhelm, supposing that the elf may be capable of returning Casca to her original self, but warns that what Casca truly wants might not be the same as what he does. At the height of Griffith's defense of Vritannis, as he reverts to Femto and nears Ganishka, Skull Knight appears and attempts to strike him down from behind with his Sword of Actuation. However, his appearance is anticipated and his sword stroke is manipulated by Femto via space distortion, who then redirects it at Ganshika. This causes a chain reaction with Ganishka's god form that results in the World Transformation, shaping the entire world into a global Interstice with astral creatures fully manifesting in the physical world. Trivia *Skull Knight states that, like Guts and Casca, he also resides in the Interstice. *Puck believes that Skull Knight "kinda feels like an elf". *Flora states that Guts is a "fellow struggler" to Skull Knight. *The video game series all have an armor set called the "Dark Set", which resembles Skull Knight. *The Skull knight is quite similat to the protagonists of the ''Dark Souls ''series such as the Chosen Undead and the Ashen one. Quotes References Site Navigation Category:Protagonists Category:Male Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Supernatural Characters Category:Knights Category:Swordsmen Category:Golden Age Characters Category:Conviction Characters Category:Falcon of the Millennium Empire Characters